What does it mean to conserve a house? Can conservation’s motives and domesticity’s purpose converge in the house’s interior? This volume explores such questions by reflecting on the afterlife of several conserved domestic spaces.

Domesticity implicates notions of gender, sexuality, labor, class, ethnicity, and taste. It makes concrete ambitions for comfort, security, privacy, and independence. Domestic spaces must be flexible to change, intensified occupation, and unusual habits, but robust enough to accommodate use and decay. These are spaces marked by cycles of moving in, starting a family, growing old, and dying. This volume explores questions about what it means to conserve a house and the afterlife of conserved domestic spaces.

Lilian Chee is a writer, theorist, and designer who has contributed to numerous books and journals on architecture. She also serves as the regional editor for the Journal of Architecture. She lives in Singapore. Erwin Viray has been the coeditor of a+u and is one of the ten critics for 10×10-2 from Phaidon Press. He lives in Kyoto.